hendiadys

Pronounced: hen-DIE-uh-diss, noun

Notes: This word has nothing to do with chickens

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Yesterday’s word

The word vanward means “located in the vanguard; advanced”

First usage

Our word came into English in the early 1800s

Background / Comments

I have heard of “vanguard,” which arrived long before our word (the late 1400s). I didn’t realize that “vanguard” was shortened to “van” in the 1600s — and then, finally, -ward (is situated in; in the direction of) was added to get our word. As a side note, -ward is an interesting adjectival suffix. We mostly see it today only in “toward” – literally “in the direction of ‘to’; that is coming closer to the referenced object”. But there used to other uses: froward and God-ward. Maybe we should have a “ward” renaissance. We already have (but don’t use that often) “homeward” – maybe we should start using “work-ward” or “church-ward” or “shopping-ward”.